Ideas for Australia: Australians are living longer but getting sicker – we need a plan to keep them out of hospital

Description by original source: The Conversation has asked 20 academics to examine the big ideas facing Australia for the 2016 federal election and beyond. The 20-piece series examines, among others, the state of democracy, health, education, environment, equality, freedom of speech, federation and economic reform.

Australian health policy is dominated by debates over which level of government will foot the bill for the rising costs of care. The drivers of these costs are well known: growing demands for services; new, more expensive technologies; and an ageing population with more people living with complex chronic conditions.

Solutions usually start (and often finish) with reform of funding arrangements – as though a more logical, planned system would undo these kinks.